Alabama football’s Jihaad Campbell was already thought of as a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. With his 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine on Thursday, he might have locked it up.
Campbell ran the distance in an unofficial 4.52 seconds. His time tied him for the third fastest linebacker, behind UCLA’s Kain Medrano (4.46) and Auburn’s Eugene Asante (4.48).
Even before he ran, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah was singing Campbell’s praises.
“The physicality, as someone who was an on-the-ball linebacker in high school, they moved him off the ball because you had two first-round edge-rushers at Alabama and you wanted to get him on the field,” Jeremiah said on the air. “But the explosive traits, they’re all there. That gear, when he hits go, he explodes and gets there in a hurry.”
Campbell played some reps on the edge during the 2024 season at Alabama, but starred at inside linebacker, opposite Deontae Lawson. He led the Crimson Tide in tackles, with 117, along with five sacks, earning All-SEC first-team honors.
He said Wednesday in Indianapolis that he hoped to show off his versatility during the combine.
“I feel as though I’m Mr. Can Do it All,” Campbell said. “I’m a Swiss Army Knife as they say. I can blitz through the A-gap, I can come off the edge. Play middle runner, Tampa 2. I can drop strong, hook, curl, mash, whatever you want me to do. I can play man-to-man on the receiver, tight end, running back, anything.”
Campbell is one of Alabama’s two best chances at a first-round pick this season, alongside Tyler Booker. Campbell has consistently shown up in the first round of recent mock drafts, including one Wednesday at CBS Sports, which had him off the board at No. 19 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Campbell is the ideal physical freak at linebacker to be the heir apparent to Buccaneers legend Lavonte David,” Chris Trapasso of CBS wrote in his assessment of Campbell.
The NFL Draft begins April 24.
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